Paul Heckingbottom’s debut as the Leeds United manager got off to the worst possible start – Billy Sharp giving Sheffield United the lead after only 70 seconds – and ended in a defeat that stretches the team’s winless run to eight games.

While Leeds showed slivers of the potential that helped persuade the 40-year-old to swap Barnsley for Elland Road, there was also plenty to suggest Heckingbottom has a tough job on his hands.

After Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s equaliser, Sharp’s second-half penalty gave the home side the spoils in this feisty Yorkshire derby. It’s a crucial victory that keeps Sheffield United on the heels of those in the play-off places, while Leeds’ hopes of finishing in the top six become slimmer by the week.

“There was a bit of apprehension out there, I could sense it,” Heckingbottom said. “I thought that lifted in the second half. It’s my job to give them that freedom, take the pressure off, because the last thing you want is anyone playing within themselves or subconsciously being stifled.”

Managerial tenures at Leeds tend to be eventful and, above all, brief. Since Brian McDermott departed in the summer of 2014 seven managers have come and gone, averaging fewer than 26 games apiece. The result is that Heckingbottom has inherited a jumbled jigsaw of a side but one not without talent: Lasogga’s powerful header and the beautifully flighted Pablo Hernández cross that created it was evidence of that.

“Paul coming in will have given their players a boost,” said the Sheffield United manager, Chris Wilder. “From their point of view, they might have to get their finger out and impress the new manager. So it wasn’t the most free-flowing of performances but it’s one we’re delighted to take.”

And in Sharp, Wilder had a match-winner. Restored to the starting XI, he gave Sheffield United the lead inside two minutes. His superb acrobatic volley from Mark Duffy’s cross was the striker’s 200th league goal.

Despite the early setback, Leeds held out for the remainder of the first half and were almost level before the break, with Jamal Blackman superbly turning away Pontus Jansson’s header.

Lasogga’s equaliser early in the second half sparked Leeds pressure but the home side were able to wrest control once again and were back in front after a smart free-kick routine set John Fleck scampering into the box. Eunan O’Kane brought down the midfielder and Sharp made no mistake from the spot – his seventh goal in his past six league starts against Leeds. Sharp has scored more goals against Leeds than he scored for them in his season at the club in 2014-15.

Heckingbottom’s side pressed hard for a second equaliser in the closing stages, with Hernández firing just over from inside the box and Laurens De Bock seeing his thumping drive from distance deflected wide. Leeds have not won since Boxing Day.

“I asked the players after the game: ‘What was the difference in the second half?’,” Heckingbottom said. “We played on the front foot, we were more positive, we had more energy. That’s the starting point.”